Federal Trade Commission – Duane Morris Life Sciences Law

February 14, 2023 by Duane Morris

Latin America Sees Increased Enforcement of U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

The United States enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 1977 to criminalize the bribery of foreign government officials in exchange for new business or maintaining old business. The risk to Latin American companies is that the FCPA is applicable to not only U.S. citizens and companies, but also to foreign persons residing in the United States and foreign companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Moreover, the FCPA also applies to foreign firms and persons who have substantial contacts in the United States. Importantly, enforcement officials may hold U.S. companies liable for the actions of their foreign subsidiaries in cases where the subsidiary acts as an agent of the parent company.

Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

April 27, 2021 by Duane Morris

SCOTUS Curbs FTC’s Enthusiasm by Limiting Relief Available Under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act

On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act does not authorize the FTC to seek, or a court to award, equitable monetary relief. The decision is likely to have a significant impact on the FTC’s decision-making process in bringing future cases directly to federal district court, as opposed to going through the administrative process, and it will likely spur congressional debate and possibly lead to new legislation.

To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.

July 22, 2019 by Duane Morris

FTC Issues Report on Its Authority Under Section 5 of the FTC Act to Challenge Pharmaceutical Drug Price Increases

On June 24, 2019, in response to a directive from Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the use of the FTC’s standalone authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to address high pharmaceutical prices. The committees had directed the FTC to examine, in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Congress’ intent regarding unfair methods of competition in Section 5 and in the FTC’s standalone Section 5 authority regarding unreasonable price increases, including those that occur over multiple years, on off-patent pharmaceutical drugs and biologics. The report broke down along party lines. The FTC’s Republican majority concluded that attempts by the Commission to rein in unreasonable drug prices using Section 5 alone, untethered from accepted theories of antitrust liability under the Sherman Act, are unlikely to find success in the courts. Democratic Commissioners Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter issued a dissenting statement in which they urged the FTC to examine ways to use its enforcement tools to restrain pharmaceutical pricing. Challenging high pharmaceutical drug prices has recently been a hotly debated political topic, and the report, along with the dissenting statement, will likely factor into that debate.

View the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.